In order to be successful in today’s extremely competitive Retail Automotive Industry, Customers need to feel more than just satisfied with their experience in your Dealership; their satisfaction needs to exceed their expectations if you want to maintain and/or grow a thriving dealership. 

No matter what the business, customers will have a minimum level of expectation in regards to the services and/or products they will be receiving. If this minimum level of satisfaction is not met, the customers will inevitably be frustrated and surprised at the poor results. However, the daily business of running an actual business can lead to times when customer satisfaction simply cannot be met due to unforeseen or unchangeable circumstances. 

However, all Customers have the potential to be impressed by your dealership if you take certain things into consideration. If you take the time to catch your customers pleasantly off-guard, you will create and strengthen brand loyalty that will pay you back in dividends. 

So how can you do this? 

By underpromising and overdelivering on all of your products and services.

It is a simple concept that can go a long way.  Regardless of their skepticism or demanding nature, even the most frustrating customer can be won over by delivering on a service or product faster than expected, providing them with a pleasant surprise to their day.  

Let's imagine that you need to return an item due to defective workmanship, and you are expecting the store to replace it as they have advertised they do.  Yet when you get to the store, not only do they replace the item, but also reimburse you with a 50% discount for your inconvenience. How surprised would you be? This store is likely to have made a return customer out of you but extending a nicety that you were not expecting. In turn, you are more likely to share this with friends and family, creating a loyal network of customers. 

Word-of-mouth and customer trust are so important to the Car Salesperson. Why? Because of the average consumers' perception that we are always attempting to rip the customer off or lie and make false promises to make a sale. Underpromising and overdelivering can immediately dispel that false perception, instead creating what could be a “Customer for Life”. 

The true Automotive Professional does not hide when he sees his or her Customer coming to the Dealership for fear they have a complaint or issue, quite the contrary.They cheerfully greet their Customer, and if the Customer announces a problem or dissatisfaction with something, whether it is the transaction or with Service, they look upon this as an opportunity to shine and overdeliver for their Customer. 

Consider that each time a Customer comes to you with a concern.  In most cases it can be solved very easily and very inexpensively, but creates a huge opportunity for you to “over deliver” for that Customer and earn their undeniable loyalty. 

Remember, the customer's perception is that we will not do anything to help them AFTER the sale, but will always look for reasons to only deliver what we may have promised in writing, especially if it costs the Dealership something.          

Here is a great idea for earning a Customer for life. 

Develop a relationship with a local restaurant and negotiate a discounted rate for a breakfast or lunch.  Every time a Customer comes in with any issue at all pertaining to their car, and should the car need to be in service for just a few hours, give them a coupon to go over and have a meal on the Dealership.

In many cases you can negotiate a breakfast rate for as little as $3 and a lunch rate for $5.  The value to the restaurant is that it gets people into their establishment to try out the food, creating a win/win for both the restaurant and the Dealership.

This coupon is not for every Customer that comes in with a complaint, but just a gesture for those you feel would benefit the most from this small gesture of good will.  Ironically someone who may want a repair taken care of for free may not be as demanding once you have offered them something for their inconvenience.

Want to learn more tricks of the trade to increase your auto sales and just make your life a little easier? Contact us today to learn more about our in-dealership auto sales training programs, online training, and our training centers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Call Mary Mannella today at 800.374.3314, extension 162 to learn more.